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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27944669">Sleep Deprived</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflepuff_ish/pseuds/hufflepuff_ish'>hufflepuff_ish</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Dating, F/M, Fluff, Fred Weasley Lives, Ministry of Magic Employee Hermione Granger, No Romione, Post-Hogwarts, Romance, Slow Burn, a misunderstanding, and late night walks, early mornings in the burrow, kind of secret dating but not really, short but cute chapters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:07:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,946</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27944669</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflepuff_ish/pseuds/hufflepuff_ish</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione stays at the Burrow for Christmas and when Fred finds out she barely sleeps and wakes up very early every morning, he uses it as an opportunity to spend time with her and get close to the girl he has a crush on.  (Post war, Fred lives AU).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Angelina Johnson/George Weasley, Hermione Granger/Fred Weasley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Bad Influence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I obviously do not own HP. </p><p>This is also posted on ff.net but this is the edited version. Hope you enjoy it and I'll love to hear your thoughts!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A soft light falls through the window in Fred and George’s room, indicating that it's an early morning hour. It annoys Fred, the only twin who's awake and can't fall back asleep since he suddenly woke up. He already tried lying down in every possible position; nothing helps. He moves his head to the side to look at George, who seems to be deeply asleep, as he contemplates waking him up. A moment later, Fred decides against it — he isn't sure that his twin will even be able to be woken up this early unless he’ll wake up on his own.</p><p>Practically teasing him, Fred’s stomach growls hungrily. As he rolls his eyes, he realizes he definitely won't be able to fall back asleep in this state. Sighing, he pushes himself off his bed and quietly makes his way out of the room. After closing the door behind him and walking down the stairs, he relaxes a bit but still tries not to make too much noise. The silence in the Burrow feels almost unnatural, which is why hearing a noise coming from the kitchen makes him feel more comfortable.</p><p>When he reaches the last step, Fred can see Hermione in there, making herself a cup of tea. Her hair is messier than usual, suggesting that she hasn’t been awake for long. He watches her for a moment, noticing how careful her movements are and how peaceful she seems with the quiet around her. It makes him suspect that she actually dislikes mornings with his family, considering how loud they are. He can’t blame her though, quite the opposite — he enjoys seeing her like this.</p><p>Taking the final step, he clears his throat and looks at her with expectation, waiting for her to notice him. Surprised with someone else’s presence, she jumps, causing Fred to chuckle. ‘’Morning,’’ he greets her as he makes his way through the kitchen.</p><p>Meeting his gaze, Hermione smiles as she realizes it’s him and says, ‘’Morning. Would you like some tea?’’</p><p>He smiles back and says, ‘’Yes please, Granger.’’</p><p>Her brown eyes travel away from him and she pulls another cup from one of the cabins. Fred takes a few more seconds to look at her as she pours the hot drink into a cup that the Weasley kids bought their dad for one of his birthdays from a Muggle store. Fred decides against letting her catch him looking at her and starts looking through a few of the cabins for something he can have for breakfast. He comes across bread leftovers and jam. Without bothering to take a plate, he smears the jam on the bread and takes a bite.</p><p>‘’Why are you awake so early?’’ Hermione asks and hands him his tea.</p><p>‘’Don’t know,’’ he says as he finishes chewing. ‘’I couldn’t fall back asleep. Why are you?’’</p><p>She brings the cup to her lips and blows on the tea. It's a slightly distracting sight for Fred, but he stays composed. ‘’It’s been a bit of a struggle for me to fall asleep since the war,’’ she admits with a shrug and takes a small sip.</p><p>Frowning, Fred puts his cup aside. He wasn’t aware that Hermione is suffering from insomnia. He noticed her red eyes and the bags under her eyes over a week ago, but he didn’t think a serious lack of sleep is the reason. He silently scolds himself for not noticing something this important about the girl he has been paying more and more attention to over the years.</p><p>‘’It’s never bad to be up early on Christmas through,’’ Fred says while he scolds himself again, this time for the stupid things he’s saying. ‘’Did you open any of the presents yet?’’</p><p>Hermione follows his gaze to the Christmas tree that is standing in the corner of the Weasley’s living room and says, ‘’No, I would hate to open mine on my own.’’</p><p>‘’Good thing I’m here, then,’’ he replies with a smile. Not wasting any time, he takes another bite of his breakfast and walks across the room towards the tree. Aware that she’s watching, he meets Hermione’s gaze and nods at her to follow him. ‘’Come on, Granger,’’ he says when he sets his cup of tea on the coffee table.</p><p>The girl is still standing where she was, her eyes set on his and her expression is skeptical. Fred isn’t willing to give up so easily and he stares at her brown eyes for several seconds, until she surrenders. Sighing, she grabs her own cup and walks towards him. In the meantime, he approaches the Christmas tree and starts looking through the presents.</p><p>‘’Why do you call me ‘Granger’?’’ Hermione asks.</p><p>Apparently, looking for one particular gift under the Weasley’s Christmas tree isn’t as easy as Fred thought, but he tries not to show that his long search is beginning to annoy him. Instead, he smirks at the question and asks a bit playfully, ‘’What would you want me to call you?’’</p><p>He hears her putting her cup on the table as well before she approaches him and says, ‘’There is always my name.’’</p><p>He wants to tell that it <em>is</em> her name, only her <em>last name</em>, but she is suddenly standing next to him with arms crossed over her chest and says, ‘’Fred, I really don’t think we should open our presents now. It takes out all the fun out of the present opening.’’</p><p>Half smiling, he turns to look at her and holds out a box that has her name on it. ‘’Don’t worry, love, I only want you to open mine now,’’ he explains.</p><p>A look of understanding crosses Hermione’s face and her arms fall to her sides. ‘’Oh,’’ she says quietly. ‘’But only if you’ll open mine.’’</p><p>With a short nod, he says, ‘’Agreed.’’</p><p>Crouching next to him, she takes the present from him and puts it on her knees. Her brown eyes scan all the presents for a moment before she leans over and pulls out quite a big box.</p><p>“You’re making me share my present with George?” Fred asks in horror.</p><p>She looks embarrassed but then she smiles and says, “That's a present for both of you. But I also got something for each one of you separately.”</p><p>As if on cue, she pulls out another wrapped box. Fred leaves the present for both him and George by the tree, deciding to wait until his twin will be with him to open it, and takes the smaller one that has his name on it. Together, the pair stands up and takes a seat on the couch. The fact that Hermione got him his own present makes stop smiling a struggle for Fred. He steals a glance at her and sees how her eyes shine with curiosity. She catches him looking, yet he doesn't look away.</p><p>“Shall we?” He asks.</p><p>She nods and they waste no time. They start opening and ripping the wraps and even now Hermione manages to do it more neatly than he does. He could comment on that, but he’s too focused on the present, wondering what he got from her.</p><p>“Fred Weasley, you're a bad influence on me,” Hermione mutters, although her expression, especially her smile, give away her excitement.</p><p>“Don't pretend that you're not enjoying it, love,” he smirks at her.</p><p>Hermione finishes opening her present first since hers is smaller. The redhead watches as she holds the medium sized box with a frown that fades a second after she opens it. As much as he likes gifts and wants to know what she got <em>him</em>, he can't give up on seeing her reaction to what <em>he</em> got <em>her</em>. A half smile tugs at his lips when her expression lights up.</p><p>“This is beautiful,” she says in awe. She’s holding a rectangle shaped drawing of a beautiful pastoral view that’s tied by a ribbon at the top so it can be used as a bookmark. “For a second, I thought it was going to be jewelry.”</p><p>In response, Fred puts his hand above his heart and says, “And I thought you had a higher opinion than that on me.” Then, he pauses. “Or did you want jewelry?”</p><p>Luckily, she chuckles and shakes her head, immediately making him feel relieved. “It could actually be used as a portkey, so if you want to read somewhere peacefully, you just rub it four times and it takes you there. Each one they make is unique, so you won’t find yourself there with other people,” he explains.</p><p>She smiles as her warm eyes scan her present for a few seconds, taking in the details before she looks at Fred. He's still looking at her and butterflies fill his stomach when their gazes meet. It's not news to him that she makes him feel this way, but he does try to hide it from anyone who shouldn't know about his little crush — which is currently <em>everyone</em>.</p><p>“Thank you, Fred,” Hermione says, sounding genuine.</p><p>Fred might as well explode from how proud he is of himself. His crush is a rather new thing — or so he tells himself — and he has been making sure to be careful with the witch that caught his attention. Even though Hermione has been best friends with his little brother for years now, Fred himself doesn't know her the best. But when Christmas was approaching, he just couldn't help but want to wow the girl away with a perfect present; he decided it when hers and his brother’s unofficial breakup — if you can call it that — was rather fresh. Maybe it wasn't the best line of thinking considering he's Ron’s brother, but it seems like the two best friends are happier being nothing more than best friends.</p><p>“My turn,” he says and moves his attention to the gift in his lap.</p><p>He's much less careful with the wrapping, but it doesn't matter because he's dying to see what Hermione got him. <em>Just him</em>. Something almost falls off once he's done with the unwrapping and it takes him a moment to realize that his gift consists of two things. Merlin, Hermione is <em>the best</em>.</p><p>In his lap lies a book named “Guinness World Records” with the mention of the current year and on the floor lies a colorful tie. When he picks up the tie, he takes a moment to study the most colorful pattern he has ever seen that has the word “Haha!” in almost every color. The accessory makes him smile. He has never seen anything like it.</p><p>“I saw the tie in a random store and immediately thought of George and you,” Hermione explains as she watches Fred’s reaction. “The book is a muggle one. It mentions many records that were broken over the world this year. Some of them are quite strange… I thought it could help you with new ideas for your shop since you seemed to focus on that recently.”</p><p>The second part of the explanation almost makes the red-head blush. When Fred realized he might fancy Hermione, it took him time to take it in and whenever anyone would ask him why he’s being unusually quiet, he lied and said that he was trying to come up with new ideas for Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, George’s and his joke shop. He hopes Hermione won’t find out the truth or he will be so embarrassed he’ll never face her again.</p><p>Instead of letting her suspect anything, he smiles widely and says, “This is brilliant, Hermione. Thank you.”</p><p>The witch beams with satisfaction and continues drinking her tea, which is yet to have gone cold, while Fred curiously starts flipping through the pages of the book. He wouldn’t describe himself as a book lover, but he’s interested in things Muggles have managed to achieve to be mentioned in this book of records, especially the weird things.</p><p>The two sit peacefully together for a bit over half an hour, eating breakfast and discussing Fred’s book. They laugh and awe at the tallest person in the world, the most flexible one, the one with the most tattoos, at the largest dancing event that has been held and so on. However, their small bubble slowly disappears when more and more people come down for breakfast and for unwrapping of the presents. The morning ends with Hermione looking with Harry at the presents the younger wizard got, and the Weasley twins opening the rest of their presents. However, even with all the excitement and distractions around, Fred finds it almost impossible to stop thinking about the witch who seems to be becoming more special to him than he’d ever expected.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Offended</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you all so much for the comments and the kudos, it means the world. Happy Valentine's day for those who celebrate by the way and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! I really need to start updating chapters faster because there are already 10 posted on ff.net so stay tuned for that. </p><p>Feedback and just general reactions are always appreciated :)</p><p>I obviously do not own HP.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning is entirely different. Fred wakes up around the same time but it takes him several minutes to snap out of the sleepy daze he’s in. The possibility that Hermione is the first one in the Burrow to be awake again is somehow enough to make him get out of bed and Apparate to the kitchen. He’s momentarily disappointed as he looks around an empty kitchen. However, he then notices the steam that is coming out of the kettle and the cheese that’s lying near the sink, which his mother could have left there. His gaze wanders around until he spots curls peeking from behind one of the armchairs and he can't help but smirk. Fred spends a minute putting himself left-overs from yesterday, which surprisingly doesn't draw the witch's attention, before heading over to the living room.</p><p>The closer he gets, the easier it becomes for him to see that Hermione is curled up with a book in her lap. He almost decides not to interrupt her, but then he reminds himself that she reads several times a day while he only has few opportunities to get her alone and talk to her privately.</p><p>“Good morning,” Fred says, breaking the silence as he sits down on the couch.</p><p>Hermione visibly jumps at the sound of his voice and her eyes widen. The reaction makes him chuckle in amusement, contrasting the redness of her cheeks.</p><p>“Morning, Fred,” she replies, her expression relaxing.</p><p>As he watches the tension leave her body, he decides to tease her. “Too busy with your reading to notice good old Fred, eh? I’m offended.” The question makes her look embarrassed and he smiles. “It’s alright, love, I was joking. I know you well enough by now to know it isn’t personal.”</p><p>Hermione’s lips curl into a small smile that makes him feel proud of himself for causing that. It also encourages him, another reminder that even though the girl is the smartest witch of her age, she’s still human and not too complicated nor stuck up. She holds her book closed but keeps one finger tucked in the place where she stopped reading, then changes her position so she's facing him, unaware of the second confidence boost she’s giving him.</p><p>He leans back, his body relaxing against the old couch before he asks, “Can't sleep again?”</p><p>“I <em>slept</em>, just not for very long,” Hermione says, her gaze momentarily leaving his.</p><p>Since she told him about her trouble sleeping a day ago, he can’t <em>not</em> notice the signs of tiredness on her. The dark skin under her eyes looks like it doesn’t belong on her young face and it makes him wonder if he’s the only one who sees it. It doesn’t seem likely since it’s so strange to see Hermione look like worn out and even though he wasn't expecting a different answer to his question, the answer worries him.</p><p>“Can't a healer help you with that?” he asks, before starting to eat his bacon.</p><p>Hermione sighs and he wonders if maybe he shouldn't have asked. However, she doesn't look annoyed and it's too late to regret what's already done.</p><p>“Theoretically they can and so can Muggle doctors but I'm not sure I want to depend that much on a potion or pills,” she explains with a small frown and when she notices the confusion her last word caused him, she explains. “A pill is a small capsule with medication in it. You swallow it and then it dissolves in your body and it works like a potion. Only without magic.”</p><p>“Hmm.” Fred nods while finally taking notice of her half-full tea mug and the bread crumbs on her empty plate.</p><p>Probably sensing his concern, Hermione shrugs and says, “It's not that bad, actually. It gives me more times to get things done.”</p><p>He should have given her a supply of Sleeping Potions for Christmas, he concludes. She might be trying to brush it off, but he doesn't know how he needs to simply accept that his crush barely sleeps at all. He would have cared even if he didn’t feel his heart fluttering in his chest every time he looked at the curly haired girl, because after all these years and everything that happened, she’s as good as family to him.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Hermione, but that’s bollocks,” he replies, hoping he’s not coming off too harsh. “The war left some scars in all of us, all types of scars but it doesn’t mean that you necessarily need to ignore whatever’s wrong with you. It doesn’t matter if you can do more things, because not sleeping isn’t healthy as surely doesn’t help your concentration and energy levels.”</p><p>She glares at Fred as he speaks, causing to him scold himself for every word that leaves his mouth yet he doesn’t understand how she can let her lack of sleep be. He doesn’t even think that she likes him back, so in the best-case scenario, he didn’t ruin anything romantic between the two of them now.</p><p>“I’m <em>handling</em> it,” Hermione says, her voice rather angry.</p><p>Then, she moves into a new position so that her back is to him with her knees pulled up to her chest, and opens her book again. Fred looks at her and sighs. He wants to say something, but he isn’t sure what — ‘’sorry that I care about you’’ doesn’t sound like a good option — and for a few minutes he sits there, eating his breakfast and hoping that she’ll calm down and face him again.</p><p>The pages in her book turn every minute, hinting that luckily for Fred, she can’t feel him staring at the back of her head. It’s one of the times when he wishes that she wasn’t his brother’s best friend. Hitting on girls that aren’t that close to his family is a lot easier, especially since he doesn’t have to fear they’ll see him as nothing more than someone’s brother. But, of course, he <em>has</em> to have a crush on Hermione.</p><p>When he grows tired of sitting there and feeling their time alone coming to an end, he gets up and takes a seat on her chair’s arm. The armchair creaks in protests and slightly leans further back, while Hermione tries to balance herself on it and turns to give Fred a dirty look. He smiles at her in response, hoping to appear charming or at least cute.</p><p>“Wha’cha reading?” he asks casually, only to be ignored in return. “And should I worry about you not using my Christmas present, Granger? <em>Sorry</em>, I meant Hermione.”</p><p>Still, nothing.</p><p>Fred looks at the side of her face, noticing her clenched jaw and tries to rush himself into making her speak to him. He knows he isn’t very good at being the most understanding. Unfortunately, joking and teasing don’t fit into that category yet it’s all he has to offer. And so, he leans forward until his head is next to hers, his breath is felt on her shoulder and his chest is almost touching her shoulder.</p><p>Looking at the text in her book, he asks, “How long is this book? This is page 349 and you’re barely in the middle of it.”</p><p>Groaning, Hermione closes her book and gets up. Afraid she’ll leave, Fred stands up as well and comes to a stand in front of her. He studies her expression and realizes that she isn’t furious, but it’s clear that she doesn’t want to be there with him. <em>Great</em>.</p><p>“Look, love, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to tell you what to do, I’m just worried about you,” he says, now serious.</p><p>She sighs and her expression seems to soften. “I know, but it’s <em>my</em> business. I already have Harry and your mum watching me like a hawk. I’m trying to handle it, so it could be nice if everyone would stop worrying because it’s making <em>me</em> worry <em>more</em>…” she explains, before pausing. She shakes her head. “Sorry, it’s all a little overwhelming. I’m starting to feel like Harry did.”</p><p>“Noted,” Fred says with a small chuckle, his green eyes focused on her brown ones. “But not worrying about you is not as easy as you make it sound.”</p><p>Frowning, Hermione asks, “Why?”</p><p>The truth is, Fred considered telling her how he feels several times but most of the time it felt like a bad idea. Now, it seems like the world is handing him an opportunity to do that and he must admit it’s tempting. She continues to look at him as he considers his options and her confused expression seems rather cure, making his thoughts lean in one obvious direction.</p><p>“Well, we all know you for years, so we obviously care about you, and you have like three best friends here right now and I…” Fred licks his lips, the words he wants to say dancing on the tip of his tongue. “Here’s a concept—” he pauses again. “I fancy you.”</p><p>The frown disappears from Hermione’s features, yet her eyes widen slightly. The two stare at each other and Fred’s heart starts beating so fast that he wonders if she can hear it. Maybe if this was one of these romantic, silly books that Ginny used to read, he would have leaned forward and kissed Hermione, but he’s pretty sure he’ll be facing rejection any moment now.</p><p>Her lips turn into a smile and Fred can’t believe what he’s seeing. He’s about to smile back, happier than he has been in a rather long time, but then hears the witch’s response.</p><p>“Really funny, Fred. Nice try, though,” Hermione says and he can recognize the emotion behind her expression — light amusement.</p><p>“No, wait—” he says as she moves around him and heads to the kitchen.</p><p>With her book pressed against her chest, Hermione raises her eyebrows at him. “As if I would believe that you like me,” she says, her head tilting to the side.</p><p>Shocked, Fred stares at her with his mouth hanging open. For as long as she washes her dishes in the Muggle way, he tries to figure out how to respond or what to do. However, she seems so sure that he’s messing with her that he has no idea what to do. He doesn’t understand why she thinks he couldn’t be serious and he thinks back to what happened, trying to pinpoint something that could have made it seem like he was joking.</p><p>“Good morning,” a cheery voice says from the stairs and Molly Weasley wakes in. “I see you two are up early again.”</p><p>If he wasn’t so speechless, Fred would have been annoyed that his mother interrupted his time with Hermione. Fortunately, the said girl and his mum start talking, which prevents either of them from noticing his long state of surprise.</p><p>Eventually, Fred gets back to the couch and finishes his breakfast bitterly, while his gaze travels to Hermione more times than usual. As always, she doesn't notice and fortunately, so does his mother, who lets him be once she sees him eating.</p><p>It could be the perfect time for him to let go of his feelings for Hermione and let go of her, pretend it was always just a joke, but, surprisingly, he feels more determined than ever to make his things clear to her. So, he keeps thinking about it and wonders what he'll do tomorrow morning for the rest of the early morning.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Twin Thing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have some free time until my next semester starts so I might try to update all the chapters that are already posted to ff.net to archive of our own, while also working on a completely new chapter. Thank you to anyone who's left kudos or a comment and have a great weekend!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing that Fred notices when he wakes up the next day, is that it’s dark. He stares at the ceiling for a while, wondering if he should go back to sleep, yet something inside of him keeps nudging him to check what the time is. Even though he’s still not entirely over how Hermione reacted yesterday to his confession, he still wants to spend time with her. He wonders if maybe she laughed because she thinks the possibility that he fancies her seems so <em>impossible</em> to her. It makes him feel like the only way to change the situation is to prove to her that he does like her, but even then, he suspects she will see it as a joke.</p><p>He never thought being a prankster would cause something like this and he runs a hand down his face, frustrated.</p><p>Sitting up, he looks out of the window to his left. The sun beginning to shine in the horizon and to paint the dark sky in warmer colors than the dark blue that’s covering most of it. He leans back and wonders what to do next. As time passes by, Fred decides that staying in his bed for a while is the best option. The warmth of his covers is too comfortable to leave for now; he’ll get up when the sun will be higher. And so, he continues sitting in his bed, drifting in and out of sleep with one thought running through his head in between — <em>don’t fall asleep so you can see Hermione.</em></p><p>Eventually, he hears a door closing and someone walking down the stairs. He reaches out for his wand and Apparates to the couch in the living room just a few seconds before the said witch comes down the stairs.</p><p>“Fred?” Hermione asks in surprise, her voice still sleepy.</p><p>The redhead pushes himself off the couch, mainly so he won’t fall asleep again, and says, “Good morning, Hermione.”</p><p>“Good morning. You’re up early,” she notes, frowning in slight confusion.</p><p>“So are you,” he replies and follows her into the kitchen to start looking for something to eat.</p><p>In the meantime, Hermione fills the kettle with water and casts a spell on the water to boil. When their gazes meet, Fred smiles at her, even though he can’t stop thinking about yesterday.</p><p>“What do you want for breakfast?” He leans back on the kitchen counter and watches her get two mugs ready. The sight makes him smile. He takes a few steps towards the refrigerator, opens it, and says, “We have eggs, bread, the salad that Mum made with that weird Muggle sauce Dad bought, peanut butter, cheese, veggies—”</p><p>“You don’t have to list me everything, Fred. I have eyes, you know,” she says with a teasing smirk. “Do you want sugar in your tea?”</p><p>“Who said I wanted tea?” He glances at her with a smirk of his own, as he starts pulling several ingredients for toast,</p><p>The question makes Hermione’s eyes widen and her smile disappears as she looks completely embarrassed, opening and closing her mouth a few times without saying anything. With his amazing acting skills, which he developed over the years to try and get himself out of trouble — <em>try</em> being the keyword — he simply stares at her while closing the refrigerator and putting the ingredients on the kitchen counter. He only lasts about seven seconds before he bursts into laughter.</p><p>“I was joking, love,” he says in between laughing. “Two sugars, please.”</p><p>Hermione’s widened eyes change the slightest in size as she glares at him. Then, she slaps his arm — not very painfully but it makes him laugh harder — and she huffs in annoyance. She gets back to the tea and pours the steaming water into the two mugs. He continues glancing at her, waiting for another response and notices the way she’s loudly mixing the sugar into the tea.</p><p>“You’re going to wake the entire family like this,” Fred says carefully and, fortunately, she listens and moves the spoon more carefully in one of the mugs. “Look, I’m sorry—”</p><p>Sighing, she puts one of the mugs next to him and says, “There’s nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry I’m cranky, I just didn’t sleep well.”</p><p>“Nightmares?” he guesses carefully and reminds himself to be careful about this subject after she snapped at him about it yesterday.</p><p>Silently, he offers to make her toast by gesturing at his own sandwich-in-process and she nods.</p><p>“Not exactly, but it wasn’t a good dream either,” says Hermione.</p><p>They both start making toasts for themselves and since Hermione takes longer than he does, Fred gets the sandwich toaster ready. It’s one of the only Muggle electronic devices he knows how to use thanks to his dad, who couldn’t help but buy one once he found out it exists. Then, he notices that Hermione and he are, dare he say, in sync and it makes his heart flutter.</p><p>“I actually used your Christmas gift today, when I couldn’t fall back asleep. It was nice to escape for a bit,” she adds.</p><p>Her words bring a rather proud smile to his lips. She notices it and her own expression lightens, which reawakens the butterflies in his stomach. He can’t help but think that it would be nice to be somewhere else for a bit, even though having his own apartment with George gives him enough freedom. A short change of scenery would be nice and he wishes it could somehow include a certain, beautiful and amazing witch.</p><p>“Morning!” a very familiar voice calls from behind Fred, who closes his eyes and mentally scolds his twin brother.</p><p>Hermione looks over her shoulder and slightly smiles. “Morning, George.”</p><p>With pursed lips, Fred keeps his attention on the toaster oven and tries to ignore the ping of jealousy that he feels. It seems like Hermione is always happy to see other people in the morning but is always confused whenever she sees him.</p><p>“What are <em>you</em> doing up so early?” Fred asks with a hint of bitterness in his voice — he knows that now his brother is here, the conversation Hermione and he were having is over whether he likes it or now.</p><p>George, who's now roaming through the fridge in search of something to eat, looks at him strangely and says, “It's a twin thing, I suppose, Freddie. Suddenly, I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. What's for breakfast?”</p><p>Fred eyes him suspiciously to which George smiles. The former’s mood has dropped — he woke up earlier, thinking he would get more time alone with Hermione than usual. Instead, he gets the complete opposite.</p><p>“Toast and tea,” Hermione says after several seconds of silence from Fred.</p><p>“Hmmm,” George says thoughtfully and his twin wishes he could shove his head into the fridge. “I'll pass. I'm currently in the mood for pie.”</p><p>Fred, who has been glaring at the toaster, eases up when George takes out their mother's apple pie and heads to the dining table. Then, Fred steals a curious glance at Hermione. She's already looking at him, but the moment their gazes meet, she looks away shyly and brings her cup of tea to her lips.</p><p>Behind them, George decides to fill the silence and starts telling them about what he dreamed about — he had to make a speech in front of all of Hogwarts, which he did naked, and one guy, whom he didn’t recognize but George is sure is ‘a Slytherin git’ seemed rather satisfied about the naked part. In his dream, George didn’t mind about the latter.</p><p>“Merlin’s beard…” Fred mutters, sure that they George is giving them way too much information, as his twin goes on about the ‘Slytherin git’. He glances at Hermione — he does it a lot, yet he simply can’t help it — and sees how much she’s trying not to laugh. “I’m sorry you have to listen to this.”</p><p>“It’s fine,” she replies, smiling. “I think the toasts are ready.”</p><p>One look at the sandwich toaster makes him realize she’s right. The smell of their toasts fills the air and he opens the machine. Without thinking too much, Fred reached out to take hers first, only it’s so hot he needs to immediately put it back down and pull his hand away. Hermione, being herself, comes to stand closer to him and uses a knife to move each toast to a plate.</p><p>“You and your Muggle wisdom,” he says with a shake of his head.</p><p>Smiling again, Hermine says, “Not wisdom, just common sense, Fred.”</p><p>The witch is about to say something else when they are interrupted again by George. “<em>Oi</em>, are you listening to me?”</p><p>Simultaneously, Fred sighs in annoyance and Hermione rolls her eyes, even though a smile continues to play on her lips. With that, she takes her plate and mug, and goes over to the dining table to join his twin. She sits with her back to Fred, who still hasn’t moved and catches his brother’s gaze instead. George gives him a knowing look, to which Fred replies with a middle finger.</p><p>Just like that, every opportunity to speak alone with Hermione that morning flies out of the window. Fred is used to it by now — it's the third time this is happening in a row — and he takes full responsibility for it, however, by the time he even starts thinking about how to get Hermione alone in another way, she leaves the table to go and get ready for a meeting she has in the ministry.</p><p>With only his twin by his side, Fred's shoulders drop in disappointment and he looks at his breakfast as if he’s lost appetite. He can feel George looking at him and it's another thing that upsets him because he thought he was doing a good job of hiding his feelings, and now it's ruined. He doesn't want to hide anything from George, but he doesn't know what will happen with his heart and he would rather deal with this unknown future alone.</p><p>“So… Hermione?” George says as he cuts himself another piece of pie.</p><p>Fred looks at the curvy edges that the pie has from being cut with a fork and he already knows how annoyed their mum will be about it. She scolds the entire family daily about their eating manners. He can already hear her in his head; <em>did I raise you to eat like animals instead of taking a plate and taking a slice of pie like normal people do, George Weasley?</em>  Good thing it isn’t his fault this time.</p><p>“Yeah,” Fred replies and sighs, before continuing to eat his breakfast. “Can you please not mention it to Mum? Or… anyone? Just this once, Georgie.”</p><p>George smirks, possibly enjoying the power of knowing his brother's secret when they hear someone walking down the stairs. “I'll think about it,” he says right before their mother appears. Then, he leans forward and whispers to Fred, “By the way, you're doing a bloody horrible job in getting closer to her.”</p><p>“Sod off,” Fred replies automatically.</p><p>Fortunately for Fred, their conversation is cut short since their mother gets in within hearing range. She greets them good morning, before noticing how George is eating her apple pie and raising her voice at him, saying what Fred guessed she would only a minute ago. With things going on as he expected, Fred tries to hide his satisfied smile but also wishes that he could expect the turn of events with Hermione instead of with his Mum.</p>
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